Media Technology & Innovation

EBU Technology & Innovation Award

The EBU recognizes, encourages and supports outstanding technical solutions developed by Member organizations with the Technology & Innovation Award.

The Award, pictured above, is presented annually at the EBU Technical Assembly in June and now in its third year.

Winning teams and organizations benefit from a significantly raised profile within the broadcasting community, with press and online coverage through the EBU, the option to have a presence on the EBU's stand at IBC in Amsterdam later in the year, and often speaking opportunities. Every member of the winning team also receives a certificate.

Nominations for the 2018 EBU Technology & Innovation Award close 23 April and can be submitted by individual EBU Members, working group Chairs and other members of EBU working groups.

The 2018 Award will be presented at the EBU Technical Assembly in June 2018 at the BBC Media City, Salford, Manchester, UK.

2018

Renderers for Next Generation Audio encode programme material designed to deliver highly adaptable audio for immersive and personalised experiences and access services. The EAR implementation, which is based on open standards and designed to be a reference platform for further development, facilitates innovation by allowing the broadcast community to explore and make use of the potential of the technology.

The 2018 Award will be presented at the EBU Technical Assembly in June 2018 at the BBC Media City, Salford, Manchester, UK.

What kind of work qualifies for the Award?

The Award is intended to acknowledge individuals or groups that have developed technologies, systems, or services with the potential to have a major impact on broadcast media in the coming years. In order to qualify, the work needs to have been completed or have reached a major milestone in the two years prior to the nomination. Essentially, the contribution or project needs to be ‘making a difference’ to media production systems and/or services provided via broadcast, cable, or broadband.

Who can be nominated?

Some examples of candidates for the Award are: a) a team within a broadcaster that has undertaken an important and successful project; b) an EBU Project Group that has developed an important new technology, software, or methodology; c) individuals who have made a significant and or essential technology contribution.

Who can make nominations?

EBU Members, Associates, Approved Participants, members of EBU T&I working groups and the EBU Technology & Innovation Department can make nominations. This includes members of the EBU Technical Assembly and EBU Technical Liaison Officers, to whom the requests for nominations are sent.

Who selects the winners?

The jury is comprised of the elected Members of the EBU Technical Committee (TC). TC Members are elected for a two-year term, on a personal basis, to speak for EBU Members who have similar circumstances to themselves. The individual jurors rate the nominations according to a pre-determined set of criteria and submit their respective results to EBU Technology & Innovation. The data is then collected to produce the Award winner.

What are the selection criteria?

Proposals will be examined for attributes that include the following:

The likely impact the work will have

The novelty of the approach

The value to media production and delivery

The breadth of usefulness

The achievement in the light of the resources available to complete the project

How often is the Award presented?

The Award is presented annually if there are nominations with sufficient merit. Awards may not be given every year. The call for nominations is issued in March of every year.

When is the deadline for making nominations?

23 April 2018.

Who can make nominations?

Anyone in the employ of an EBU Member, Associate Member, Approved Participant, as well as chairs and members of EBU working groups can nominate any project or group of individuals that fulfil the criteria for this Award. The criteria are explained in the 'Rules' section.

How many projects may I submit?

There can be more than one nomination per submission.

Can I submit a project that was nominated last year?

Yes, on the condition that the project has been continued since.

How do I know if you have received the nomination?

You will receive an e-mail confirmation within 3 working days. If you do not receive a confirmation, please contact Françoise Davies, EA to the EBU T&I Director.

When will I find out if the project has been selected as the winner?

We will contact the winners confidentially during the first week of May to ensure they can make arrangements to collect the Award at the EBU Technical Assembly. Please ensure that the email addresses and telephone numbers will still be valid after you have filled out the nomination form.